The Importance Of First Aid For Adolescent Mental Health Problems In Students

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JAKARTA - Mental health problems in adolescents, especially school students, have recently increased along with various triggering factors.

Cting Antara, Sunday, Data on Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (KPPPA) as of July 2020 states that there are more than 3.200 (13 percent) elementary to high school children in 34 provinces in Indonesia who experience symptoms that lead to mild to severe depressive disorder.

Most of them 93 percent of the symptoms of depression experienced by children in the age range 14-18, while the other 7 percent in the age of 10-13 years. The pandemic is one of the dominant factors in children from this age category experiencing mental health problems.

The impact of mental health problems on students is very diverse ranging from anxiety, irritability, stress, depression and even suicidal ideation. That is why the role of teachers and schools is very important, especially in providing initial psychological support (DPA) on students' mental health problems.

The Satkaara Berbagi Teacher Community (KGSB) together with the counseling teacher (BK) House and Pelangi Psychology Consultant held first aid skills training on mental health problems for teachers through Psychological First Aid (PFA) Batch I on 19 February and 5 March 2022.

A total of 60 teachers have passed the selection process and become participants in the PFA Batch I training. They come from elementary to high school/vocational schools throughout Indonesia and Timor Leste. This PFA training is conducted online.

Lita Patricia Lunanta, M.Psi, Psychologist, Psychologist at Pelangi Psychology Consultant explained that there are a number of steps that can be given to students experiencing mental health through initial psychological support (DPA).

The first is Look which includes an assessment of the circumstances, needs, emotional reactions and risks faced by students.

The next stage, namely Listening, is done by active listening, attending to students, trying to understand and understanding students.

The third stage, namely Link, is to connect students with other people or parties according to their needs. If students need medical treatment, they can be referred to a doctor. If students need further counseling, they can be referred to a counselor or psychologist. If there are psychological disorders that require further treatment, they can be referred to a psychiatrist.

"When listening, avoid giving advice, solutions and suggestions to students too quickly. Try to be fully present, listen actively, accept and understand students' feelings so that students feel comfortable telling stories, feel understood and understood," said Lita.

She gave important notes that teachers should not do during DPA, namely giving advice too quickly, labeling students, belittling the problem, and blaming students. In addition, Lita reminded teachers to also pay attention to their welfare by routinely doing self-care and stress management to avoid stress, burn-out, and compassion fatigue so that they can provide optimal support.

Meanwhile, the founder of KGSB, Ruth Andriani said that the initial psychological support was a form of concern for mental health conditions experienced by many children and adolescents in Indonesia. Through this PFA training, it is hoped that teachers and schools will have the understanding and ability to provide the right DPA for students who have psychological problems.

"School is an environment where children and adolescents grow and develop. Schools are ideally a safety net for their students. For this reason, we have taken the initiative to facilitate teachers in developing their abilities in the DPA field to overcome mental health problems in students," she said.

While the Founder of the BK Teacher's House and Widyaiswara at PPPPTK Penjas and BK Kemendikbud, Research and Technology RI, Ana Susanti, M.Pd. CEP, CHt added, the wide coverage of the PFA Training area throughout Indonesia is in line with one of the RI Ministry of Education and Culture's programs, namely providing training to increase teacher competence throughout Indonesia.

"So far the PFA training program from the Ministry of Education and Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia is still limited to teachers throughout Indonesia, of course it is still not comparable to the number of teachers in Indonesia. The existence of PFA Training from KGSB is very useful to equalize the ability of teachers throughout Indonesia so that mental health problems students are resolved faster," said Ana.